How to think like a copywriter and strengthen your business
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of writing in the course of running your business.
There are countless emails that need words, plus proposals and maybe reports. There’s the writing you’ll do to market your business - the blogs, guides, and newsletters - as well as the social media posting you’ll do to support the content you create. You might get copywriting help with the bulk of your marketing, but you’ll almost certainly still be writing quite a few words yourself.
And that’s because you just can’t outsource some writing jobs. Sometimes, it just has to be you. Your thoughts and ideas, shaped into words and delivered directly to another person, are what’s needed.
Not all of these writing jobs need a copywriter’s skills, but they help with most of them.
Persuasive copy
What copywriters do is make words work really hard. It’s a highly disciplined form of writing. Persuasive and to the point, a copywriter can get you to sign up, buy now, read more in very few words.
Copywriting skills come in very handy when the words have a specific job to do, particularly on a website, for example when you’re describing your services and encouraging people to get in touch with you, or when you want to communicate the benefits of your newsletter so that people join your tribe.
Attention grabbing copy
Copywriting is often, but not exclusively, linked to sales copy. Maybe it’s better to think of it as ‘action orientated’ copy. Words that move a reader from A to B. Of course, all good writing moves the reader in some way. A novel takes a reader on a journey, but they have 80,000+ words to take them there, and the reader has chosen to come along for the ride. A copywriter will have the job of grabbing attention and moving minds in 150 words or so. It’s a really useful skill to cultivate if you want your ideas to make an impact and resonate.
A copywriter’s mindset
A copywriter’s mindset can help you with the bigger picture of your business too. If you think like a copywriter, you can sharpen your whole business strategy.
A copywriter asks questions. What’s the most important thing to say here? What do you want people to do when they read this? How do you want people to feel? Good copywriters get inside the head of the ideal reader, just like you want to get inside the head of your ideal client.
Think like a copywriter, and you’ll know just what to deliver to the people you serve.
Five useful questions a copywriter asks
What can I cut?
There’s no room to say all that! Just like there’s no room on a web page to list all fifty five of the amazing benefits of working with you, there’s probably not space in your day to juggle the work needed to deliver an overcomplicated set of services. No room in that text box, on that web page, in your diary, in your day, in your life! It’s a good discipline to try and describe your services in 200 words. And then in 50 words. How about 15? It will feel tough getting there, but chances are the pared back and streamlined version of your offer will make you breathe a sigh of relief.
2. How can I make this clearer?
Copywriters obsess over the best way to express stuff. Making ideas clear and easy to grasp really matters to word geeks.
Cast a critical eye over the way you describe your offer. Look at the way you’ve positioned your business. Have you made it as unambiguous as you possibly can? Could someone grasp what you do from a very quick glance at your home page? Does your Twitter profile show people what they’ll get from following you?
Make clarity your aim, and it might help you make some really useful tweaks to your website and social media presence.
3. What words would my reader use?
When you’ve got limited space you really need to make every word count. Making the copy sound like something the reader would think or say is a good way of grabbing and holding attention. And to do that you need to understand their challenges inside out.
Seeing what you do from the customer’s point of view not only helps you market your services effectively, it can help you design them better too.
Exactly how do people describe the challenges that put them in the market for what you do? Listening to customers will give you a useful lexicon of words to choose from, and it will also give you a really good steer on even better ways of delivering those services.
A copywriter needs to know ‘what does the reader want?’ before they can write the right words, and you need to know that too.
4. What do I want the reader to do?
Copywriting is often tied to a call to action (CTA). You’ll be writing something with the single minded intention of getting the reader to do something.
Considering how you’re asking your potential client to interact with you can throw up some gaps in your marketing strategy. If all your CTAs are ‘phone us’ you’re probably missing a trick.
Think about your product ladder. Having something that’s easy to buy so that potential clients can test you out before making a big commitment makes sense. As does putting time into building a community around what you do. CTAs that lead to helpful content without asking people to buy are useful.
The more ways you can engineer trust in you and what you do the better.
5. How do I want the reader to feel?
People often worry about getting the tone of voice right for their communications, but thinking in terms of how you want the reader to feel can help with that dilemma.
The words on your website represent you, they’re you in action. If you want people to feel like they’ve found a supportive friend, make your copy personable and empathetic. If you want people to feel like you’re a helpful authority, choose words that guide and inform.
Think of brand tone of voice in terms of the personal relationship you want to develop with your clients. Not only will it make the choice of words easier, but it might also shape the bigger positioning picture and help you build a stronger relationship with the people you most want to serve.
